He Stopped Loving Her Today
by Amanda M. Daugherty
Summary: Does love ever die?


From: kevin amanda loisad@bbtel.com  
To: country_girl_2003@Yahoo.com country_girl_2003@Yahoo.com  
Subject: FF: He Stopped Loving Her Today  
Date: Saturday, June 09, 2001 2:30 PM  
  
Title: He Stopped Loving Her Today  
Author: Amanda M. Daugherty  
E-mail: Country_girl_2003@yahoo.com  
Rating: PG  
Classification: (Harm/Mac)  
Spoilers:  
Summary: Does love really die or not?  
  
Disclaimers: Don't own JAG.  
  
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There are some people who when you first meet them you know they'll always hold a place in your heart. He was one of them. Most people will remember his as the hero, the best at everything, the man with the perfect career, but I'll remember him as the man. He wasn't the kind of person who looked up to you because you had fame and wealth, or look down upon you if you didn't. He admired you if you were happy. If you had fame and money, or if you lived in a five room apartment with a family of three as long as you were happy he'd admire you. I never knew what he needed to be happy, until the day she left.  
That day is burned into his memory forever. Heck, it's still vivid in mine. We all stood around and watched her say goodbye. Several hugs were given and received that day. As she made her rounds he stood off in the corner with his arms folded, in the position that he was so frequently in. We all held our breaths and waited as she walked up to him last. He glanced up and noticed all our gazed fixed on them. There was nothing but sadness on his face. His eyes didn't sparkle with their usual gleam. He didn't give us his silly grin that made him look like a kid who got his hand caught in the cookie jar.   
"I'll walk you out." He quietly uttered, almost whispered.  
"Sure let me get my things." She disappeared into his office and he into his. Seconds later they returned. Him carrying his cover and her with her cover and a box of personal items. Being the gentlemen he is he relieved her of the box and together they walked outside. For some reason they sent me outside to spy on them. I watched from behind the Admiral's car as he loaded the brown office box into the passenger side seat and followed her over to the drivers side. He held the door open for her, but she didn't get in. Instead they just there starring at each other.   
"You understand why I have to do this right?" she asked.  
He never answered her. He looked everywhere, but directly at her.   
"I want you to understand that this is something I have to do for me. Try to understand that."  
"I'll try."  
"Promise?" It was a question. I once heard he never made a promise he couldn't keep.  
"I'm sorry. I can't. I can only promise you that I'll always love you. Till the day I die."  
"you'll forget me eventually and move on."  
"I say them hug with so much emotion.  
He watched her pull away until her car was nothing, but a speck on the horizon. He then got into his own car and dove off.  
I didn't see him until three days later when he walked into the office. His eyes were red brimmed. His uniform wasn't perfect like it normally was. The tie wasn't proper, but loosened like a man who'd been working all day, not someone just coming to work. The biggest and most dramatic change was the smile. The smile that had became his trademark had disappeared. He no longer greeted me with a smile when he came into the office. He didn't tell jokes anymore or laugh when someone did something funny. He was dead to the world, and all because she left.  
The courtroom was no different. He lost his drive, his passion, and his sense to find the truth.   
Being the young age I was at the time I didn't believe the words that he pledged to her that day, but over the next few years it became clearer and clearer that he meant every word he said. I had been here for 6 years when she left and I'd seen him date about five women. After she left I never saw him out with another woman. Maybe what he said about only loving her was true.  
Today was the first day I've seen him smile in 30 years, and I've seen him everyday. After he left like she did just ten years later I brought food and visited him everyday, even though I had a family of my own. I'd walk into his living room and he'd be sitting in an old ratty chair. The TV would be blaring, but not that he'd ever notice. I'd set the vase of flowers my wife picked for him on the table and set the food in the fridge. Each day I'd tell him there were fresh flowers on the table and a certain dish in the fridge. He'd never acknowledge me. He'd just sit there in his chair starring straight ahead at the TV. I"ve often wondered what he was thinking while sitting there. You never know what a man is thinking or what was the true cause of his state until you but yourself in his place. I always wanted to ask him what really drove him into that state. Some say it was the fact of losing his soulmate. Some say it was fate. That he was so great in his early life that the latter part was mean for resting. Now we'll never know.  
I went with my children to his home. My wife didn't place the flowers on the table, but instead he hung a wreath on the door. Apparently he'd been found by his godson who also came to see him. The Roberts were gathered in the corner. Bud, Harriet, their three kids, and their families were all there. As I walked through the front door they carried him out in a black bag. I was talking to Bud's oldest, AJ, the one who found him. He'd said that when he found him a smile was on his face almost like he knew he was going to die. That he'd finally be with her. As I turned away from the Roberts to go back to my own family I heard someone exclaim "I guess he finally stopped loving her today." I shook my head. Love like theirs never dies. He didn't stop loving her today. He'll always love her. Today they were joined.  
  
THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
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FEEDBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
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INSPIRED AND TITLED AFTER THE SONG HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY PERFORMED BY GEORGE JONES.   



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